


My happy ending

by fanetjuh



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, F/M, Mentions of Rape, They're both messed up, it's post ramsay theon and sansa, look - Freeform, mentions of abuse, mentions of torture, okay?, show verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 16:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17328299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanetjuh/pseuds/fanetjuh
Summary: In the library Sansa is confronted with all the fairytales she used to love as a child. But she's not a child anymore and her life is not a fairytale. Although, Theon might offer her an interesting view she hadn't even considered yet.





	My happy ending

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BerryBagel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BerryBagel/gifts).



> This is a pinch hitter entry for the a song of ice and fire rare pair secret santa

The tips of her fingers touched the spines of the books she used to love when she had still been a little girl. A naive little girl who believed that one day there would be a prince charming, who would take her to his castle and who would make her his queen. A naive little girl who had believed in stupid fairytales. A naive little girl who had believed her parents when they had told her that she would get everything her heart desired.

Sansa had gotten a lot. She had gotten a prince, who turned out to be a wicked creep and beheaded her father and tossed her aside as soon as a prettier and wealthier princess had shown up at his doorstep. She had married a dwarf she could never truly love, even though she had to admit he had been more caring and gentler than any other Lannister she had ever met. She had been rescued by a father figure who had given her away to a cruel man like she was nothing. She had been raped by a monster who had hurt her in more ways than she had ever thought possible.

Life wasn’t a fairytale. There were no knights in shining armor to save the day. There were no Prince Charmings to kiss sleeping princesses awake. All those stories, all those promises of a happily ever after, they were nothing but rubbish and nonsense. 

Sansa threw the books from the shelves and watched how they dropped on the cold floor beneath her feet. She didn’t care that their pages were ripped or wrinkled. She didn’t care that the once so beautiful illustrations were now damaged and beyond repair. 

It were stupid stories. Stupid stories told to stupid girls to make them unafraid of the future when they should have been terrified. 

“What're you doing?”

Sansa looked up when Theon entered the library. 

His blond hair was a mess, but what got to her the most was the tiredness, the sadness and the guilt in his eyes. He had once been so fierce and cocky, but the boy he had once been seemed to have vanished completely. He was now scared, timid, an empty shell of who he used to be.

“I'm making sure those books can’t give any other girls false hope.” Her lips were forming a straight line and she lifted her chin to make herself even taller than she already was. “There are no knights in shining armor and the princes here in Westeros are not charming.”

Theon bent his head and he stared at his dirty boots. “I'm sorry…” The words were nothing but a whisper, barely hearable and Sansa furrowed her eyebrows, unsure if she had really understood him correctly.

“What?” She cocked her head. “Did you just say you’re sorry?”

Theon didn’t look up, but he nodded. “I did.” He shook his head. “I was wrong to leave Robb, okay?” He swallowed. “I was wrong to go back to my father and to try to impress him.” He licked his lips. “I was wrong to conquer Winterfell.” 

Sansa took a deep breath. “Yes, you were.” She walked a little towards him. “But you also helped me to escape. You saved my life, Theon.”

“Without me you wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place.” Theon still didn’t look up and Sansa rolled her eyes. 

In a way she appreciated Theon taking responsibility for what he had done, but he didn’t have to blame everything that had happened to her on him. 

He had not been the one beheading her father. He had not been the one throwing her aside when she had become useless. He had not been the one rescuing her only to give her away to a far worse monster. He had not been the one raping her.

“I was already in danger long before you ditched my brother.” Sansa let out a deep sigh. “You made a lot of mistakes, Theon. But what happened to me wasn’t your fault.”

“If I hadn’t conquered Winterfell, Robb wouldn’t have had Roose Bolton send Ramsay and you…” Theon looked up and his eyes, filled with tears, met hers. “You wouldn’t have had to marry him.”

Sansa smiled a mocking smile. “As if Peter wouldn’t have found me another monster to marry.” 

Maybe Peter would have kept her for himself and would have forced her to marry him.

She had to swallow a few times to keep herself from puking all over the books at her feet. “I was already way too deep into this mess to come out of it unscratched. What you did or didn’t do made not much of a difference for me.”

“Thank you…” Theon’s muscles relaxed a little. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“It doesn’t mean you’re forgiven for everything, Theon.” She once more stepped a little closer towards him. “But we all did and said things we regret to stay alive. And we all learned from it.” She stared at the books again. “I learned not to wait for a knight in shining armor or a prince charming.” She wanted to walk past Theon, but Theon grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“Sansa…” Theon paused and Sansa debated whether to free her arm and walk away or to be patient. “I don’t know much about fairytales, but…” He hesitated once more. “Maybe you just haven’t reached the end of yours yet? Doesn’t it always get worse before it gets better?”

Sansa thought about that for a moment. 

“They’re enslaved, banished, almost killed, cursed…”

Sansa thought about Snow White, about Sleeping Beauty, about Cinderella and Rapunzel. 

“I don’t say you should wait for a prince or knight to rescue you. You can totally rescue yourself, but…” He shrugged. “I think you haven’t reached the end of your tale yet.”

“As if any noble knight or prince is ever gonna marry me after…” She couldn’t say it. She doubted if she would ever be capable of saying it out loud. “After everything that has happened. I married two times already, Theon. And my last marriage…” She almost choked and eventually she swallowed the rest of her sentence.

“Does it really have to be a prince?” Theon looked at her and when their eyes met she saw something new in them. 

She saw a small sliver of hope. 

“I know I don’t have anything to offer.” He kept his glance locked with hers and when she didn’t run away screaming she saw the sliver of hope grow. “And I have a lot of mistakes to make up for and flaws I need to work on and…” He eventually looked away from her. “I guess I need a princess in shining armor to save me too, but…” He looked back at her and Sansa felt her heart skipping a beat in her chest. “Maybe I can be your knight and you can be my princess and we can help each other to save ourselves? We can take it slowly of course. But, maybe it could be a start to know we’re not doing this alone and we don’t have to end up alone.” Theon cocked his head. “Maybe, we can be each other’s happy ending?”

Sansa opened her mouth to say no, to dismiss the offer without even thinking about it, but for some reason she couldn’t. The word just didn’t want to come out. “Maybe…” She said instead. “Maybe I like that indeed.”


End file.
